Big Mac in a bowl sounds so yummy!
I will be on the hunt tomorrow for IP friendly thousand Island dressing...fingers crossed I find it.
Lisa

Well, days off are now over. Back to work tomorrow. I am truly terrified of the halloween candy this weekend! I didn't even buy any to hand out! I'm giving juice boxes. Candy is my weakness! I have had chocolate cake sitting on my counter for 3 days, untouched, but candy, I'm not so sure.

My little guy is going to see his grandparents for a week Nov 1, maybe I will ship the candy as well!

I had a moment of weakness tonight. We did jack o lanterns tonight, and I am a sucker for pumpkin seeds. I almost threw them out, cause I knew I was gonna eat them. Well I made them, had a handful, and thats it. I didn't touch anymore, I felt ill, probably from guilt! LOL!

Pegsi, I weighed and measured tonight (tomorrow is weigh in) I think I hit a 0 week. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

I was inspired by all the talk about Mac in a bowl, and I made a taco salad, minus the taco. It was fabulous! Mmmmmmmm, I will try the mac in a bowl, as soon as I get some of that dressing!

Hope everyone has a safe and fun halloween weekend!

Hey Mary...when I'd lost about 35 pounds, I had a back flare up as well. (Got into a really bad rear end accident about 7 years ago) When I went to see my chiro, she said that she thought it could be my body readjusting to losing so much weight so quickly. She said that it sounds counterintuitive, but that the body has a memory too, and when things change, other things can get out of whack. Good luck!

I laughed outloud at this one. They are doing construction in my office, and they had to move the candy, vending machines completely out of sight during my entire IP experience. It was lovely.

Today is my very last day on Phase 3. It was really strange going to the store...I didn't buy much. It was so odd, I just didn't know what to buy, or what I really wanted, or how to cook it! Going to look at a few reciepes and go back tomorrow. I did buy some more fruit for my afternoon snack, which I was excited about.

JessicaCourez-congrats on moving through the phases! I can't wait to reach goal(1/2 way!)

I posted this question last night but I probably was on too late and nobody else read it. I'll try again...I have been doing well so far, 40lbs in 9wks, but the inches aren't moving as quickly. I know I'm losing because I've gone from a tight 16 to a loose 12 in pants, but my measurements (in losses) seems to be much lower then others who have posted. I have lost a total of 20 inches. My coach does 5 measurements-chest(ribcage), waist, hips, thigh & upper arm. Is this the same for everyone? Does my loss seem average or low?

Can anyone tell me if they know of ANY kind of cheese that "might" be legal and can be eaten during Phase 1? I am missing my cheese terribly!

Thanks!
L

CONGRATULATIONS Jessica! I'm sssssoooooooooooo happy for you.
Whoot! Whoot!

Can anyone tell me if taking antibiotics affects your weight loss on the program? Someone told me that they contain sugar?

Any comments?

Thanks!
L

I just checked my chart and I'd lost 11.5 inches at -20 pounds, measuring the 5 points. On the other hand, at just under -30 pounds, I've lost 31 inches. So maybe you'll follow my pattern and give up more inches as you progress?

Remember, too, that a lot of people measure a LOT more points.
(I measure chest, waist, hip, thigh, and arm, one side only.)

I use the dry grated parmesan that comes in a "can" it isn't really cheese haha but it helps a little. Someone a few weeks ago said they found veggie cheese that was 0/0/0. I have looked but have only been able to find soy and almond cheese which had numbers higher than 0. haha I am still looking I have not had time to go to Marlene's (my local health food store). Hope this helps and I am sure that some of the more experienced IP'ers will have ideas as well.

Everything I needed to know about life I learned while on IP.
Or….
Secrets to Success while on IP.

Today is my last day on phase 3. I’m both excited and have trepidations about moving forward to Phase 4, and yet, I’ll find a way to eat cheese on my salad tomorrow. My wanderings around the grocery store tonight caused me to muse a little about this journey I’ve been on, and so I thought I’d capture some of them here.

I’ve simultaneously enjoyed and cursed the diet. It could be a royal pain sometimes, having to pack and cut veggies. Having to say no, to give the server no less than 20 questions about what was in a dish then having them pull out lots of the ingredients. But I enjoyed the changes I went through, and those changes weren’t all physical. Many of them were mental, and many of them taught me things that I think have improved me in other aspects of my life.

And you all have taught me a lot, too. I’ve learned a lot about the body, about the chemistry of things, and insights about how people see things about their weight. I enjoy each of you, and I have enjoyed going through this journey with you. Each and every one of you deserves this for yourself. Don’t cheat yourself of going through it fully, and try to enjoy it, too, in your own way.

Here are some of the things I learned while on IP. Some of them are specific to weight loss, some aren’t. Take them as success secrets, or don’t take them at all. The journey is personal, but sharing it with you has meant a lot.

1. Planning and preparation makes perfect. More than anything, this diet is a plan about having a plan. I realized part way through that I couldn’t just hope that there would be something for me to eat. I had to plan in case there wasn’t. I couldn’t hope for success, I had to plan for it.

I’m one of those people that other people might find irritating, the kind who can ‘wing it’ almost all the time and be successful. I’m instinctual by nature, and creating plans often makes me go cross eyed, because I just want to do it. That wasn’t going to cut it here – and I realized it after going hungry a few times. So, I made a plan for everything about the diet. And you know what else; I started making plans about other things in my life, too. And then I realized that when I wing it, I’m good; when I make a plan and execute it, I can be great.

2. The scale is just data. The scale is just data. It should not be tied to your self esteem, your self worth, or what you eat. Repeat it. Believe it. The scale is just data, it is a picture of a moment in time.

Ok, I’m saying this now, but it was REALLY REALLY hard for me, and it only came to me later in the diet, and I’m not trying to minimize anyone’s feelings as legitimate when they get on the scale and it doesn’t read what you want. Follow the plan. It will work; if it’s not, the scale will tell you, but the sum of your journey is greater than the parts of the weigh ins. Sometimes it’s a one week thing, maybe you had too many restricted, maybe you were stressed out, maybe you didn’t drink enough water. Maybe your body is just saying ‘whoa, what’s going on here.’ Think about your plan, what you executed on, and what changed. That is why its data – and to tie it to emotions gives it too much power over you. Use the data to make your journey better, but don’t let the data use you.

3. Consumption doesn’t equal happiness, or, too much of anything is bad. Ok, that sounds simplistic, but I was eating and drinking too much before. Period. I got where I was because I loved and enjoyed life, and often ate too much. To be successful in phase 4, I know exactly what I need to do – and I can do it. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to enjoy life, but my happiness is no longer predicated on my consumption of food, and I credit the diet with that lesson. And if you replace ‘food’ with ‘things’ in that sentence, now that’s a lesson worth learning.

4. Find your sweet spot. Repeat. Weeks that I did well, I went back and looked at why. I repeated one week in its entirety, and lost another 3 pounds. For some reason, those food combinations were working for me. Do well one week? Do it again! What have you got to lose? More weight?

5. You are worth this and you deserve it. You can be as skinny as you want to be, and don’t let anyone tell you different. Naysayers at the beginning of my diet were asking me for the name of my doctor at the end. Believe in your journey (whatever it is) and remember your motivations.

6. And finally, a small failure does not have to mean a big one. Cheating. The topic of many a conversation here. Call me a square, but I didn’t cheat the diet. Well, that’s not true, exactly; I had three vodka sodas in the six months I was on the diet. I had my reasons for each of them, and if I were to go back in time, I’d do each of them again. Only one of them was stress induced (if I don’t have a drink I’m going to toss someone off a building). But I didn’t let my guilt (and I had it) from those cheats turn into a cheeseburger, a weekend, or a few days of off plan. It’s a personal journey, and everyone manages it for themselves. No one way is right – people who cheat still have great success on the plan and do very well. This is not me beating up on anyone for cheating. Sometimes it doesn’t even impact weight loss, and you can get back on plan right away and undo the damage. But this is about lessons, and if I extrapolate this to my regular life, many times I’d have a small failure or something small go wrong and throw my hands up in the air and give up. Now, I realize that something small doesn’t have to become big.

So, that’s what I learned, about life and myself during my journey on IP. Everyone is different, and I know there is much more, but that’s what I could think of tonight.

What have you learned? I’d be curious to hear what others have learned about themselves on the plan.

Jessicawhat a lovely post!!

NSV of the year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I bought a dress today to wear to a funeral I am attending back home this weekend and this may sound silly but...I am not used to being thin so (not trying to brag) I thought it might be to sexy (its not a sexy dress just fitted) so I asked my honey "If I try it on and show you will you tell me if it looks okay" so I put it on and my black pumps and walk into the living room where he is sitting on the couch and he just stares...and stares...and stares!!
I couldn't figure out what was going on. So I asked "does it look okay" and he stares with this strange look on his face. (I had already checked the dress with one of my sisters and she said it was very becoming and funeral appropriate) Then I finally realized what the **** was wrong with my husband! I was sexy! He thought I looked hot! I know that may seem odd but I have been fat and a bit frumpy for quite a few years.

I didn't recognize the look because it has been alot of years since he last looked at me that way. And I am almost crying. There are days now when I look in the mirror and am shocked by what I see. And then I look at the 182lb photos and think How in the **** did I let myself get there!
So this is a big fat to thin THANK YOU Ideal Protien!
Thank you for helping me get me back!

I hope Jessica's post is put in tomorrows chat so everyone gets another shot at reading it! It is truly fantastic. Thank you.

Thank you JessicaCourtez for your post. My sister keeps on telling me I need to make a "to do list" for day to day activities because she just knows I can be better than what I am doing now. It helps to hear it how you explained:
"I realized that when I wing it, I’m good; when I make a plan and execute it, I can be great."
I don't execute a lot of things in my life but a week and half ago a choose to go on IP. Now that I've started and haven't cheated once, it's amazing at how much more I do. It keeps me from wanting to sit around and thinking about food all day. I feel like IP is a nice break from my old habbits of food. I would think about food ALL the time and didn't limit myself at all. IP takes most of the guess work out of it and it is a relief at times. I thank you again for you words of success and learning.

This post deserves a sticky all its own!!

Hmmm "How Pegsi got her groove back?? That is so great!

I agree with you, Amy! It does relieve one of thinking about and focusing on food....and learning how to focus on more important things!

I love this group!! Thanks for your thoughts and wisdom.

Deb